The summer is finally here! The season of fun in the sun, at the beach, in the mountains, at the theme parks, beneath the night skies lit up by fireworks and pretty much anything and everything that Japan has to offer. This summer we decided to start out with the theme parks! Due to the high popularity of the large theme parks like Universal Studios and Disney Land, the local parks are often forgotten or even unknown to many visitors of Japan. We thought it would be great to introduce you to some of the local theme parks of Japan, starting with Fuji Q Highland, located at the famous Japanese…

As a part of entertainment industry in Japan, I would like to introduce you to its music and all of its amazing musicians that many of you might not be aware of. This time I would like to start with a Japanese rock band that is active both in Japan and all around the world – VAMPS! VAMPS are a rock duo consisting of HYDE (vocal) and K.A.Z.(guitar), formed in 2008 and aggressively rising in popularity all across Japan and Asia, Europe and the US. This spring, as well as performing at various rock festivals across the US, VAMPS went on the US tour with the legendary American rocker Nikki…

As I mentioned in the ATM entry, Japan is mainly operating on cash-system payment methods. However, there are other options that have become widely and conveniently available in the recent years. IC cards: SUICA IC cards (Integrated-chip cards) are a type of a pre-paid card that is shaped just like a regular credit card but it can be purchased and charged at the train stations only. Having an IC card eliminates an inconvenience of constantly having to carry around cash and trying to figure out how much your ticket to a certain train station would cost. After you got your cash from the ATM just transfer it to your IC…